Astrophotography 1st Attempt

[luxborealis]

Here are my first two attempts at astrophotography. I'm pleased with the results, but would appreciate any further pointers.
D800E w/ AF-S Nikkor 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5; ƒ4 @ 25sec (within the rule of 500); ISO3200
Post-capture processing in LR

[Chairman Bill]

A friend of mine used to work for the British Antarctic Survey, and had published a photo of a tent on the ice, taken at night. He lit the inside of the tent with a headtorch, giving the orange tent a warm orange glow. It's been replicated a thousand times since, so part of me thinks it's great that you chose another form for lighting the tent, but another part think it would have looked better if you'd followed suit & had the light glowing through the tent.

The second is much easier to comment on - it's great

[francois]

It's a excellent start and I like both photos… My only minor issue would be the purple fringing in the trees (first image). I don't know whether it's due to the small size of the image or the JPEG compression or if it is also present in the full size image.

Anyway, Bravo!

[luxborealis]

A friend of mine used to work for the British Antarctic Survey, and had published a photo of a tent on the ice, taken at night. He lit the inside of the tent with a headtorch, giving the orange tent a warm orange glow. It's been replicated a thousand times since, so part of me thinks it's great that you chose another form for lighting the tent, but another part think it would have looked better if you'd followed suit & had the light glowing through the tent.

The second is much easier to comment on - it's great

Bill,
I agree with the clichéed look of this photo, but opportunity presented itself, so, why not. Interestingly, in this case as well, the tent was lit by a headlamp inside the tent. Perhaps it doesn't appear that way due to the newer, lighter-weight nylons being used for backpacking tents allowing more light through the material to reflect off other panels.

Francois,
Thanks for looking so closely! The purple-fringing is on the JPEG only, not the original, but it's something I will pay closer attention to.

Thanks to bot of you!

[mal mcilwraith]

Terry

No much new under the sun, no sorry in your case stars - but so what - I like both images but for different reasons.

The first image is not as clinical as it would look with just a single tent - I also like the natural tree line that protects your camp from infinite space -

The second image is so tranquil and cold - an image one captures in a glance in the middle of the night and then ducks back to a warm sleeping bag.


Mal